Already renewed for next summer, both True Blood and The Newsroom finished their fifth and first seasons respectfully strong last night.

The final episode under the watch of Alan Ball, in which viewers were introduced to BiLilith, garnered five million viewers at 9 p.m., up a tad from last Sunday's 4.93 million and scarcely below the 5.05 million who watched the True Blood Season 4 finale.

The Newsroom season finale, meanwhile, was as hot and cold as that Aaron Sorkin-penned drama has been all year, but it was viewed by 2.3 million households, a 17% increase over the previous installment and a series high.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.